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·-------------- By Eve Edstrom Was h ingt on Pos t S ta rr Wr it er Of all the strate gy m e etings that took pla ce durin g the week that the Offi ce of Economic Opportunit.v wo n the b at tl e for: its li fe in t he Ho u se , on e unpublicized sessio n is fa s t becoming the ta l k of th e town. Jt. was set u p by th e Leacl0rs h ip Confcrnec e on Civil Hi ght s and took pla ce on Capito l Hill. As 11th-hour a ss ig nm e n ts lo gai n Cong ress ional s upport for OEO w e re a bo u t lo b e m a d e, an ex tra ordin a r _v pre ca uti o na r y move was ta ken. Th e r c prese nt at h ·e from OEO was as k e d to le ;we ll0 e room . " \Ve couldn't take anv cha n ces ," one civi l r igllt's legi s la th·c techni cia n sa id. " We ju st couldn ' t be s ure OEO was wa lking do wn t he same sid e of th e s t re e t with u s." D es pi t e state m e nts by OEO Director Donald Rum sfe lcl th a t th e N ixon a d minisstration stood be hind its bill to k ee p OEO intae t. th e re we r e num erou s r 0a: sons w hy O E O 's chi ef suppor te r s di stru ste d th e a d mini s tra tion. Al a n ews co nference Der. 8, Pres ide nt ;\; ixo n had expre ssed hope that a n "accommod a ti on cou ld be r each e d on the OEO le g is la tion. To man y OEO suppor t0rs , th is m eant that sonw version of a subs titute bill g ivin g control of mos t OEO p rogram s to th e stale s wo uld b e ac cep ta bl e to th e administrat io n . Efforts by the ?\ation 's m a.v ar s and Urban Coali ti o n Act ion Counc il me m be rs lo g l'l i\ Jr. :\"i xo n to m ake a stron g s tate me n t a i; ain st th e sub stit ute b ill fa ile d . ,\nd labo r and ci1·i! ri g hts leg is lat ive t ec hn ic: ia ns we r e fru s tr a ted by OEO's failn e lo eve n com e up w ith a h ea d count of Re publi can s who co u ld be r e lie d on to vote a (:!ai n s t th e s u bs titut e . ' ' ·T he onl y thin g t h a t m a k es se n se is to sha r e i nformation, " th e AFL-C I O 's K e nneth Youn g s aid. "But we g ot n ext to nothin g fro m OEO . "Thi s is ju st the oppos ite of wlu1t h a pp e ne d in th e las t few d ays wh e n we work e d t' lose ly with t h e D epa r t m ent of H ealth , Edu cation and Welfare a gai ns t th e Whit ten amendm e nt to c urta il F e d e r a l sc:h ool d eseg r eg at ion p owers." T he U r ba n Coaliti on A ction Coun cil's Lo we ll n. J3 e ck fo un d it lli g lll y unus u a l th a t 1h r r e wa s no overa ll adminis trati,)n st r a tegy l o g uide t h ose who were fi g h tin g for OEO . 'Not th e '.\Ia in Cog' "I\· e b ee n a round h ere fo r 10 y enrs <1 nd y ou us u al],, work to su pp le me nt and sup p ort a dm inis trat ion effo rt s ." h e sa id . "Yo u' re n ot the m a in cog in d c\·e lo p i11 g strategy to pass a cl mi n ist rati o n k g is lati un." But l hvsc work i11 g fo r OEO 's s un· in:il fo u nd th ey n ot on ly \\' Cr e t h e ·'m :i in co g" in m appinl! out st r ate gy but l h;i( so m e of th e ir e fforts wcrP. be in g sc u ttled b,1 O E: O r e prese nt a tiv es . Wh ile th e c·oa lition o f O EO s u pporters was wo r k in g to kill t he sta le-c ontrol s u bs ti t u le , OEO \1·as cons ultin g wi th Ho use m e mbe rs on rt m e nclm e n ts l o m a ke t he s u bst it u te mor e pa latab le . "\Ve were vio le ntl y o pposed lo pe r fecti n g th e substitu te a nd h isto r y pro \·r d - - -- - -- - - - - · -·--------------------------~- . us ri g ht ," ciYil ri g hts lea d e r .Jo se ph L. Hau b Jr. s a id. '·Th e admini ~l ration was r ea rl y to s0 lll e for mu ch less ." T h e r efore. th e OEO r e p1'esen la li1·es w;i s as k e d to le ave t h e L ea ders hip Conference m e e t in ;:: on D e c. 10, becau se sup p orte r s of OEO fel t it. un w is e to sha re th eir strat egy with th e ;igen cy . 'In The Dark' '·Th ey le t u s work in th e d a rk, " on e ci1· ic lead e r s a id . ·' Iget sic li r \·r 1·,· tim e I r e ar! ho w the ad m inis tr at io n pull e d off a great lcg is lali n : cou p. " .'\ lo t of bl oo rl , swe a t and !ca r s Wl' n l into th is ballle . bu t it would h a ve b een as cas.v a s pi e if 11·c had rrce i\'P d \rhi! c Hou se sup po r t." Xo on e di sconn! s th e f ac-t tha t R um sfelrl w as h ig hly s ucc essf ul in preventin g so m e of h is form e r <'oi leag u es in ·,he Ho use from h a n ding m ost of the po ve rty prog ra ms o \·er l o th e states \,·h e n th e n uci a l vot e ca m e on D re . 12. B ut 11u m0 r ous ot h r ,· fa(' lors w ere i m·o lved . Xot to b t• under e ti nrn lccl is th e fact th at 38 m e m bers wh o h ad vot e d l o sc ra p a stro n g \· o ting ri g hts law t he p re \·iou.s ni ght s wi tc lw rl t o oppose s tate c ontrol o f the pove rt y prog r a m s . "Th e , 1 just did n ' t wa nt t o f ire t1rn bul lets in a ro"· a l · th e p oor," one ohse n ·ed sai d. "It's e ntirely poss ib le t h a t we could h a \·e won th e vo tin g ri ght s f ig h t a nd ;os t ~h e · po vert.1· on e i ( th e legi3 1ation h a d b ee n ta k e n u p in rev e r se ." Of equal importan ce wa s th e i11t e n si1·e lo b by ing e ffort that the :\'a lion's m ay ors co ndu cte d agains t takin g poverty progr a ms awa y from l ocal officia l . Their effort was s imila r to th at mount ed by th e .-\meri can Ba r Associa tion wh e n it was r e s p on sibl e for knockin g out a Se n a te-p a ssed amendm e nt to give _governnors con t rol of lega l programs for th e p oor . A nd i n all th e hubbub ove r the po \·c r ty bill, sca n t attention was pa id to th e rol e that th e governors d id not play . With f ew exce p ti o ns. th e gove rn ors di d not emb ra re th e ictea of b ein g saddl e d wit h OEO . As on e r cpo r lcclly s aid : " H e ll , wh o w ants to h ave th e Statehouse blamed fo r O E O's p roblrms. It's mu c h eas ier lo b last Washingto n. " I f I, I I ! .. �